Methods Versus Results

The Antidote

FRANCE football team’s fanatics screamed of joy over Mbappe’s fourth and final goal at the World Cup final match this year. Hollywood movies’ fans cheered as Iron Man mega-punched Thanos in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War. This is an illustration of two types of personalities drawing happiness from different activities. The same applies to a teacher, an engineer, a farmer, a doctor, an editor, or a businessperson earning their livings from totally different activities.

A particular village might prefer to get things done “this way” while another achieves the same results “that way.” A Muslim prefers to read the Koran, while a Christian reads the Bible but in the end, the purpose is to achieve considerable spiritual fulfilment. One person might as well get motivation and proper social conduct from a self-help book while another dear neighbour gets the same ingredients from a preacher. It’s all about one’s complementarity with the methods they are using.

Oftentimes, we witness things working out for all but one person or vice versa. That is, in fact, plausible because we are different in many aspects of life: thoughts, beliefs, priorities, visions, etc. In the same way that there is a unique antidote for every viral infection, there is a path designed for every person to reach the same destination. Things do not always have to go in the common way. And you do not want to fail a million times to realise you are in the wrong path to a right destination.

The tendency in our day-to-day experiences is to allocate to criticising the methods and not appreciate the outstandingly good results. Just because someone used a method different from yours doesn’t mean that they are wrong. That person (or people) is using a method complementary to their values, capacity, preference, and beliefs to achieve a goal identical to yours. There is no reason to disregard another person’s “ways” for they are respective to them.

The point: Mind the results, not the methods – provided they are not in any way harming you. Give room to peaceful co-existence, otherwise the world would surely be somewhat boring.